Nicklaus Eating To Win

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Langer: Slam Not Likely

Jack Nicklaus, who is trying to win a record fifth U.S. Open this week at Oakland Hills, is on the Eat To Win diet that Martina Navratilova so strongly believes in.

The Golden Bear is just a shadow of the Fat Jack who played Oakland Hills during the 1961 U.S. Open. Nicklaus, the only player in this field to play in that Open, is down to 177 pounds. He finished fourth to Gene Littler 24 years ago.

When Nicklaus started the diet, he weighed 190 pounds. He wanted to stop at 180 to 185 but kept going. During a practice round last week, Nicklaus was seen eating a foil-wrapped snack that included wheat germ and other organic ingredients.

Nicklaus was also lighter in the pocket Tuesday, having lost a $20 golf bet to Greg Norman.

Bernhard Langer, the West German who won the Masters, has visions of the Grand Slam. The last player to come close was Ben Hogan, who won the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open in 1953. Hogan declined to play in the PGA because in those days it was 36 holes of match play and he was still recuperating from an auto accident.

``Of course you think about it,`` Langer said. ``But the chances of happening must be 1,000-1.``

Bill Prew, general chairman of Oakland Hills, has a winter home in Boynton Beach, where he plays out of Pine Tree Golf Club. . . Lew Worsham, the former pro at Coral Ridge Country Club in Fort Lauderdale, won the 1947 Open at St. Louis C.C. . . Corey Pavin, who won at Colonial four weeks ago, had the first hole-in-one of the week on the 172-yard 13th.

Ben Crenshaw has lost 27 pounds, his wife, his golf game, his putting stroke, his caddy, his confidence, and some money in real estate deals that have fallen through.

His visit to University of North Carolina sports psychologist Dr. Richard Coop last week was intended to sort out his life as much as his golf game.

``I`m prone to having dark periods, and the doctor knows that,`` Crenshaw said. ``These things all came together and just added up. Dr. Coop asked me everything -- like how I felt about my parents -- to get a feel for me.

``I told them I respected my father and loved him to death. I lost my mother in 1974. I was always a mama`s boy. I put her on a pedestal. I leaned on her. I`m sure she could have solved some of my problems.``

Coop, who counsels UNC athletes, has his hands full with Crenshaw, who hasn`t won since the 1984 Masters and who has also lost what many considered the best putting stroke in the world. Crenshaw is 151st on the PGA Tour in putting and took a four-putt before missing the cut at the Memorial Tournament two weeks ago.

These greens at Oakland Hills are not exactly the best therapy for someone who has lost his stroke. Crenshaw plans to visit Coop when the Open is over.

``He explained to me how some people are guided by one side of the brain, while others are by the other,`` Crenshaw said. ``He said people like Jack Nicklaus, Tom Kite and Tom Watson are more analytical. He put me in a group with Seve Ballesteros and Sam Snead as people who do it more by feel.``